She fell back down to the bed, her thick curves dancing for my viewing pleasure.
“No,” she said as she scrambled to get to the other side of the bed.
Her answer broadening my grin. “I think you wanted to get captured because you wanted to get away from your life. You’re running, and we gave you the ability to run without ever having to make the decision for yourself.”
She scrambled to get onto her knees as she puffed her chest out in pride. “I did this for my father. You three idiots would’ve killed him at the drop of a hat, not knowing about his medication.”
I held my arms out. “I think you’re just a coward who couldn’t make a decision for herself, so you placed the decision with us.”
“I did this so my father could live!” she exclaimed. “And it doesn’t shock me one fucking bit that you don’t understand that kind of love!”
Her words snapped something inside of me, and everything went black. I didn’t know how long I was out, or how much I missed. But, when my vision cleared, I found her pinned beneath me on the bed with my knee pressed between her legs and her arms pinned above her head.
“You,” I glowered, “have no idea about the people I have loved.”
She snarled up at me, her teeth gnashed together. “And you know nothing of the life I left behind in order to save my father from whatever fate you three had for him. I had a house with my fiancée, and a father that loves me, and a career I loved. I had no reason to run away.”
I lowered my face into hers until I felt her breath pulsing against my lips. “I think I know why you ran away.”
She scoffed. “Then, why don’t you enlighten me?”
My lips moved to the shell of her ear as a growl practically bubbled up the back of my throat. “Boredom, sweet girl. That’s why you ran.”
It was the first time I had rendered her silent, and I considered that my victory. It was a shame, though. I had hoped she’d be a bit more complex than that. But, she was just some scared little girl who had made stupid decisions in her life to go with the flow of the status quo instead of taking what she wanted by the balls.
She was another scared member of society.
It was honestly disappointing.
“So,” I said as I hopped off the bed and made my way for the bedroom door, “if you’re really that fucking bored, there’s a bar not too far up the road. Bury, one of the guards outside, can take you there if you want to get out and have a drink.”
I strode out into the hallway as her voice followed me.
“Aren’t you worried that I’ll make a break for it!?”
I chuckled as I drew in a deep breath. “No. Because I know I’m right. And because I’m right, you’ll come back every single time. Anything to cure your boredom, really.”
And as silence followed me down the stairs, I tucked my victory into my belt and focused my sights on the evening.
We had a mission to fulfill, after all.
18
NAOMI
The pride in his voice made me want to punch him again. “No. Because I know I’m right. And because I’m right, you’ll come back every single time. Anything to cure your boredom, really.”
I ground my teeth together as I snatched the book up from the bed. What the hell was wrong with that man? How in the fuck could the other two stand him? He didn’t know what the fuck he was talking about, and it wasn’t worth fighting with someone who always thought they were right. After all, I had never one a fucking fight with Gordon that ever ended with me being heard if he came into the conversation thinking he had already won.
And I sure as hell didn’t intend to engage in another one of those arguments.
“Stupid fuck,” I murmured as I started flipping through the pages of the book.
I found my place in the book, but I couldn’t focus. There was a bar? That I could go to? God, it sounded lovely, the idea of getting out and getting a drink. All of the time, I used to take my lunch breaks at the bar and grill across the street just to steal some time to myself. And while the book in my hand wasn’t the one still in my purse back at home, the thought of being anywhere but the fucking house pulled me off the bed.
Except, I had no money for a drink.
“Here,” Ranger said as he stuck his arm back through the door.
